Page 41 of Taming the Alien Outlaw
“Where are you going?” she calls out.
“The palace.”
Devon chases after me. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
Yes. No. “I don’t know. Probably not, but since when has that ever stopped me?”
I stab the lift button and tap my toe in an impatient beat while I wait for it. Why the hell did I think living on the eight floor was a good idea? After far too long—even though it’s barely been a minute—the lift arrives. Mak and I step inside while Devon remains on the landing.
“Are you coming or not?”
The door starts to close and she jumps in with us before it shuts completely. “What if it’s not him?”
It is. I know it and I think Mak did too, which is why she’s been so antsy. Had she smelled him or sensed him in some way when we were outside earlier?
“It’s him.” The real question is what the hell is he doing in the city? And with Horek? “Did they say if he was in restraints or anything?”
Maybe he’d been caught and that’s why they were together. But surely they would have been with a contingent of guards and not just Horek if Janik had been in custody.
“Neither woman mentioned anything about handcuffs.”
Okay, so not arrested. Is this a meeting finally happening? Outside, the weather is beautiful. The sun shines and a few puffy clouds hang in the sky. A light wind blows and brings with it the floral fragrance of the botanical garden that isn’t far from here.
Quinn’s taken me there a couple times and I’ve been a few times on my own. It’s as glorious as she described. She also pointed out the bench where she’d been sitting when she and Horek kissed for the first time. It’s when he was certain she was his heart’s fire.
Janik kissed me. Did it not happen for him then? That’s a question I’ve thought about almost non-stop since I last saw him. Despite everything that happened between us, he never once mentioned he thought I was his heart’s fire. Never even hinted at it. Yes, the way he looked at me intently was sort of an indicator. Like he wanted nothing more than to rip off my clothes and fuck me then and there.
We kissed once and I bit him for it. No wonder he didn’t want to try again. Except if he wanted to kiss me, the risk of getting bit a second time would be a challenge he couldn’t resist. He said so himself.
“You’ve gone quiet. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing,” Devon breaks the silence.
I laugh. “It depends on who you ask. Quinn would say it’s a bad thing, because if my mouth isn’t moving that means my brain is. And if my brain is moving, you all better watch out.”
“So is your brain moving, then?” she cants her head.
“It’s moving far too fast.”
She chuckles. “I understand that completely, because I’m similar in a way. My brain never shuts off. It’s part of the reason I don’t talk a lot and when I do, I measure every word I say, because otherwise no one—including me—knows what will come out of my mouth. There’s no telling if any of it will makes sense either.”
Devon, Lindsey, Quinn, and I all worked together at the same sanitation factory. We all knew each other, but I wouldn’t say we were friends. Our friendship really didn’t begin until the flight to Bohna from Earth. Which means, I don’t know her or Lindsey like I know Quinn.
“How come you never told us this?”
She raises and lowers a single shoulder. “It’s not something I really like to talk about. Makes me sound weird.”
“Stop it. It does not make you sound weird at all. Not to me at least and I know it wouldn’t to Quinn either.”
We’re near to the palace lift. Devon touches my hand and I glance over at her.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. That’s what friends do. We accept each other’s quirks and differences without hesitation.”
Her eyes shimmer with tears, but when she blinks they’re gone so maybe I just imagined them. We reach the lift and the guard stationed there. He glances at the three of us with a question in his gaze.
“We’re here to see the prince.” And Janik, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“I’m afraid the prince is in a meeting and doesn’t wish to be disturbed.”
